Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Than 4,000 Frozen Embryos And Eggs Were Lost During 'Catastrophic' Failure At Ohio Fertility Clinic
The 鈥渃atastrophic鈥 failure of a storage tank this month at an Ohio fertility clinic caused the apparent loss of more than 4,000 frozen embryos and eggs, the clinic said this week. About 950 patients were affected by the failure, in which the tank鈥檚 temperature rose and an alarm did not go off, the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, which oversees the clinic, said in a letter that was sent to patients on Monday and posted on its website. (Hauser, 3/28)
In a letter to affected patients on Tuesday, the University Hospitals health care system wrote: "[W]e have determined that the total number of affected eggs and embryos for these patients is more than 4,000, not the estimate of 2,000 previously used. We are heartbroken to tell you that it's unlikely any are viable." University Hospitals said its investigation into the incident on March 3 to 4 at its fertility clinic in suburban Cleveland suggested the problems might have been caused by human error, mechanical failure or both. (Wamsley, 3/28)
But on the weekend of March 3-4, the cryofreezer storing those embryos had a temperature fluctuation, rendering all 4,000 of the eggs and embryos in UH's care nonviable. UH, which offered few details in the first weeks following the incident, sent a letter to patients March 26 explaining in more depth what happened, citing a deactivated alarm and ongoing issues with its cryofreezers. (Christ, 3/29)
